NORTH HAVEN — Yale-New Haven Hospital on Wednesday announced it will purchase an office building on Devine Street and move forward with plans for a seven-day outpatient center, rather than a 24-hour emergency department.

Hospital officials said they will remodel the 120,000-square-foot former AT&T building at 6 Devine St. for a comprehensive ambulatory care program that should open on Jan. 1, 2013.

The hospital recently had sought approval for a 24-hour emergency department but when it became clear that the state Office of Health Care Access was going to reject the plan, Yale withdrew its application and reworked the plan. State permission won’t be needed this time.

“The difference is this won’t include the emergency room aspect, which requires (state) approvals,” said First Selectman Michael J. Freda, who has been working with Yale officials for over a year to bring a facility here. He said he is glad the project is back on track.

“We were never going to give up on this project. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Yale-New Haven Hospital. This project will be the cornerstone of a large medical epicenter to include every imaginable health care service,” Freda said.

Another group already has broken ground on 52,000 square feet of medical offices off Devine Street, north of Healthtrax. The project by OR&L will have three buildings. Cardiologists will move in first, Freda said.

Yale will transfer some jobs to North Haven but other jobs will be created, Freda said. “This will help surrounding businesses in the area and will provide a wide range of services that will benefit the residents of North Haven. I’m already getting calls from a variety of people who want to do business here,” Freda said.

Richard D’Aquila, Y-NHH president and chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement that Yale is “delighted to move this project forward. The concept of a Yale-New Haven ambulatory center has received widespread community support. It will create access to key health services for residents of North Haven, Hamden, Cheshire and other surrounding communities.”

Plans for the new building include a walk-in/primary care center to provide comprehensive medical services from injury care to management of chronic conditions, on either a scheduled or walk-in basis, hospital officials said. The center will be open seven days a week.

The building will also include a Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center for outpatient medical and hematological care for cancer patients and an Inflammatory Disease Center for patients with multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and related disorders. The facility will offer onsite MRI and digital X-ray imaging, as well as laboratory and blood-draw services.

In addition, Yale New Haven Health System will consolidate and move some of its information technology offices from multiple sites in New Haven to the North Haven facility.

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